EMS Communications Tips

Marking vehicles with blue tape

Have you ever wasted time to check a vehicle that another responder has already examined?

EMSA, Oklahoma's largest ambulance service, has embraced blue tape as a solution to this problem, and its members are already seeing positive results.

During a storm earlier this month, EMSA paramedics tested a new method of marking vehicles. Before leaving the scene of an accident, responders would affix a piece of bright blue caution tape to automobiles indicating that no one remained inside.

The idea was conceived during a winter storm late last year after paramedics received calls from drivers worried about stranded vehicles. As a result, responders checked vehicles multiple times because there was no way of knowing if a car of truck had already been inspected.

With the help of local media outlets, EMSA has also notified the public of this practice so that citizens won't need to call 911 if they see blue tape affixed to vehicles.

Not only has this practice conserved resources, but it has also freed up EMS personnel so they can spend more time attending to medical emergencies.

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